Commuting in Lake County, Michigan: how long it takes, when people leave home and how they get to work. Ask Map AI about any address.
You9/24/26, 8:02 PM
How much time do drivers in Lake County spend on the road daily?
Map AI9/24/26, 8:02 PM
Commute Time Burden in Lake County: Annual Hours and Cost
Commuters in Lake County spend about 62 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 259 hours, about 10.8 full days, spent commuting. That is 46% more time on the road than the Michigan average of 21.3 minutes each way, a difference of 9.8 minutes.
Lake County holds about 0.1% of Michigan's population but accounts for roughly 0.2% of its total commuting time.
Working from home just 2 days a week in Lake County would save about 104 hours of drive time a year, worth roughly $3,213 at the same national wage assumption used above.
Area
One-Way Commute
Daily Round-Trip
Yearly Time Spent
Estimated Yearly Cost
Local Road Traffic (VPD)
Lake County
31.1 min
62.2 min
259 hrs/yr
$8,032
971
Michigan
21.3 min
42.6 min
178 hrs/yr
$5,509
1,585
United States
22.4 min
44.8 min
187 hrs/yr
$5,790
1,355
The estimated yearly cost applies a single national rule of thumb (U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics average hourly earnings), not a measurement of wages in this area - treat it
as a rough estimate, not a paycheck figure. Local road traffic counts, vehicles per day
on non-highway roads, come from proprietary
Ticon and
TrafficZoom data.
On average, it takes
31.1
minutes to get to work in
Lake County.
That's 39% longer than the 22.4-minute U.S. average.
Among the 3 slowest counties in Michigan
The most common departure window is 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM, followed by 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM. Driving is the most common commute choice, followed by working from home. About 9.9% work from home.
How People Get to Work in Lake County
Car:
86.6%
Worked at Home:
9.9%
Public Transportation:
1.3%
Other:
0.9%
Walked:
0.8%
Bicycle:
0.5%
Taxi:
< 0.1%unusually low
Motorcycle:
< 0.1%unusually low
Riding a motorcycle is essentially absent in Lake County, versus 0.1% in Michigan.
Taking a taxi is unusually rare in Lake County: 3.2 times less than the Michigan average (0.0% vs 0.1%).
Commute Mode Trends in Lake County, 2009-2024
This chart shows how workers in Lake County get to work, as a share of all workers aged 16 and over, across 16 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) releases from 2009 to 2024. Each release is a 5-year estimate: the 2024 figures cover surveys taken from 2020 to 2024. Because neighboring releases share most of their survey years, the lines move gradually, and a sudden change such as the rise of remote work in 2020 spreads across several releases. Hover over or tap a line to highlight it, and use the legend to show or hide a mode. Driving starts hidden so the smaller modes stay readable.
Share of workers aged 16 and over, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.Show commute mode data by year
Year
Car
Worked at Home
Public Transportation
Other
Walked
Bicycle
Taxi
Motorcycle
2009
88.1%
6.3%
1.0%
0.6%
3.4%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
2010
88.3%
6.1%
1.2%
0.5%
3.4%
0.4%
0.0%
0.1%
2011
89.8%
4.8%
1.2%
0.7%
2.9%
0.3%
0.0%
0.2%
2012
89.8%
3.5%
1.5%
0.6%
4.3%
0.1%
0.0%
0.2%
2013
92.3%
2.7%
0.6%
1.1%
3.1%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2014
92.1%
3.1%
0.1%
1.7%
2.8%
0.0%
0.0%
0.3%
2015
91.9%
3.8%
0.2%
1.7%
2.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.2%
2016
91.3%
4.4%
0.4%
1.5%
2.3%
0.1%
0.0%
0.1%
2017
90.9%
5.2%
0.5%
1.5%
1.5%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
2018
89.4%
6.1%
0.5%
1.1%
2.6%
0.3%
0.0%
0.0%
2019
88.8%
5.9%
0.6%
1.4%
2.9%
0.3%
0.0%
0.1%
2020
89.0%
6.0%
0.4%
1.6%
2.7%
0.2%
0.0%
0.2%
2021
89.4%
6.2%
0.2%
1.2%
2.7%
0.2%
0.0%
0.2%
2022
87.0%
5.7%
0.8%
1.7%
4.5%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
2023
87.2%
7.3%
1.1%
1.4%
2.6%
0.2%
0.0%
0.1%
2024
86.6%
9.9%
1.3%
0.9%
0.8%
0.5%
0.0%
0.0%
Driving was the most common way to get to work in every release from 2009 to 2024. Its share peaked in 2013 at 92.3%. Overall it fell from 88.1% in 2009 to 86.6% in 2024, down 1.5 percentage points. It has fallen in the latest release.
Working from home gained the most ground in Lake County: its share of workers rose from 6.3% in 2009 to 9.9% in 2024, up 3.6 percentage points. Most of that increase, 4.0 points, came in the releases after 2019, which include the pandemic years.
Walking lost the most ground, falling from 3.4% to 0.8% of workers (down 2.6 percentage points).
Public transit overtook walking to become the 3rd most common choice in the 2024 release and has stayed ahead since.
Commute Start Times in Lake County
🛌Hitting SnoozeThe biggest shift to later mornings among Michigan's 83 counties: the typical start is 12 minutes later than in 2009.
What Time Do People Leave for Work in Lake County?
The bars show when commuters in Lake County leave home for work, as a share of everyone who commutes (people who work from home are not counted), from the 2024 ACS 5-year estimates. The thin violet marks show Michigan for comparison. Hover over or tap a row for the exact numbers.
12:00-4:59 AM
12:00-4:59 AMLake County5.3%Michigan5.3%
5.3%
5:00-5:29 AM
5:00-5:29 AMLake County4.6%Michigan3.9%
4.6%
5:30-5:59 AM
5:30-5:59 AMLake County5.9%Michigan5.1%
5.9%
6:00-6:29 AM
6:00-6:29 AMLake County4.8%Michigan8.0%
4.8%
6:30-6:59 AM
6:30-6:59 AMLake County5.6%Michigan9.0%
5.6%
7:00-7:29 AM
7:00-7:29 AMLake County17.5%Michigan13.0%
17.5%
7:30-7:59 AM
7:30-7:59 AMLake County9.4%Michigan12.1%
9.4%
8:00-8:29 AM
8:00-8:29 AMLake County12.1%Michigan10.9%
12.1%
8:30-8:59 AM
8:30-8:59 AMLake County8.8%Michigan5.6%
8.8%
9:00-9:59 AM
9:00-9:59 AMLake County7.9%Michigan6.7%
7.9%
10:00-10:59 AM
10:00-10:59 AMLake County1.7%Michigan3.2%
1.7%
11:00-11:59 AM
11:00-11:59 AMLake County1.4%Michigan1.6%
1.4%
12:00-3:59 PM
12:00-3:59 PMLake County7.6%Michigan8.5%
7.6%
4:00-11:59 PM
4:00-11:59 PMLake County7.4%Michigan7.1%
7.4%
Lake CountyMichiganSource: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year estimates
The busiest time to head out in Lake County is 7:00-7:29 AM, when 17.5% of commuters leave home, compared with 13.0% across Michigan. Early starts are more common than in Michigan: 15.8% of commuters leave before 6 AM, versus 14.3% there. The morning rush looks much like Michigan's: 44.5% of departures fall in the two hours from 6:30 to 8:29 AM, versus 45.0% there. About 1 in 4 commuters (26.1%) leave at 9 AM or later, which usually points to shift work, flexible hours or part-time jobs.
When people leave matters as much as how far they go. Rush-hour traffic shrinks how much ground a 20-minute trip covers, so a trade area drawn as a simple circle often takes in neighborhoods that customers or staff would never drive from and misses others that are an easy trip. A drive-time zone, also called an isochrone, outlines every place within a set number of minutes of an address, which makes it the more honest way to size a store's catchment, a hiring area or the commute from a new home.
See it for yourself on the interactive map: click any spot in Lake County, pick a 5, 10, 15 or 30-minute drive and see the local demographics of the people who live within that exact drive time.
Is Lake County Waking Up Earlier? Typical Departure Time, 2009-2024
Each line follows the typical (median) departure time: the moment by which half of commuters have already left home. Higher on the chart means a later start. Setting Lake County next to Michigan and the U.S. shows whether local mornings are drifting earlier or later than everyone else's. The figures span 16 ACS 5-year releases, so changes build up gradually rather than jumping from one year to the next.
Median time commuters leave home, by ACS 5-year release year. Source: U.S. Census Bureau.Show typical departure times by year
Year
Lake County
Michigan
United States
2009
7:38 AM
7:44 AM
7:37 AM
2010
7:31 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2011
7:38 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2012
7:43 AM
7:45 AM
7:38 AM
2013
7:48 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2014
7:48 AM
7:45 AM
7:39 AM
2015
7:45 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2016
7:44 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
2017
7:35 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2018
7:35 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2019
7:38 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2020
7:34 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2021
7:34 AM
7:42 AM
7:37 AM
2022
7:30 AM
7:43 AM
7:37 AM
2023
7:36 AM
7:43 AM
7:38 AM
2024
7:50 AM
7:44 AM
7:38 AM
In 2024, half of commuters in Lake County were on the road by 7:50 AM, 12 minutes later than in 2009 (7:38 AM). Across Michigan, the typical start barely moved over the same years. Commuters in Lake County now leave 12 minutes later than the typical American commuter (7:38 AM). Since the 2019 release, which covers the years just before the pandemic, the typical start in Lake County has moved 12 minutes later. The 2024 release is the latest typical start for Lake County in the whole series.
How does Lake County's commute time compare?
Metric
Lake County
Michigan
US Average
Avg. Commute Time
31.1 min
21.3 min
22.4 min
Departure Window
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
07:00 AM – 07:29 AM
Secondary Departure Window
08:00 AM – 08:29 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
07:30 AM – 07:59 AM
Work From Home
9.9%
13.5%
15.0%
Walked
0.8%
2.0%
2.4%
Public Transit
1.3%
0.9%
3.2%
The average commute time in Lake County is 31.1 minutes, longer than the 21.3 minutes in Michigan.
1.3% commute by public transit, higher than the 0.9% in Michigan. 0.8% commute by walking, lower than the 2.0% in Michigan.
Lake County, MI Commute Compared With Nearby Counties
Lake County, MI is the smallest of the 6 counties compared here, 11,301 residents against a local median of 34,076. Lake County, MI's one-way commute, at 31.1 min, runs 73% above the 18.0 min typical of the counties around it. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.
Work from home tells the same story from another angle: 9.9% against a local median of 8.2%, 20% above it. The counties themselves sit within 6.5 min of each other on one-way commute, a tighter band than the gap between any of them and Lake County, MI, which makes it a genuine outlier here rather than one end of a wide local spread. Lake County, MI has the 6th lowest one-way commute of the 6 areas compared here.
Common questions about commuting in Lake County, Michigan.
How much does the average commute cost workers in Lake County, Michigan?
Commuters here spend an estimated 259 hours a year on the road, worth roughly $8,032 at a typical national wage. That's 46% more than the typical Michigan commuter spends.
When is rush hour worst in Lake County, Michigan?
Traffic peaks between 07:00 AM – 07:29 AM in Lake County, Michigan. Leaving before or after this window is the single easiest way to avoid the heaviest local congestion, though 08:00 AM – 08:29 AM also sees a secondary bump.
Where are the quickest and slowest commutes among counties in Michigan?
Among counties in Michigan, the shortest average commutes are in Luce County (11.4 min), Dickinson County (12.2 min), Schoolcraft County (12.5 min). The longest are in Lapeer County (31.3 min), Lake County (31.1 min), Livingston County (28.6 min).